Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor | Continuous Flow Reactor for Advanced Chemical Materials
Our Taylor Vortex Continuous Flow Reactors are designed and manufactured in South Korea. Being the first to utilize the Taylor-Couette flow for commercial chemical reactors, our reactors are gaining global acclaim for their disruptive potential in advanced chemical manufacturing in pharmaceutical, battery, 2D graphene, and food additive industries.
The Taylor Continuous Flow Reactor combines the benefits of tank-type reactors and plug flow reactors (PFRs). On one hand, the Taylor Vortex Reactor (TVR) produces high purity particles with high repeatability, which makes them suitable for nano particles. On the other hand, they maintain user friendliness with our PLC system, which also allows engineers and researchers to control the reaction process and save reaction data.
Notable research clients include MIT, the University of Texas, and Argonne National Laboratory (ANL). ANL currently uses the Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor to research the development and scale-up of next-generation battery materials, with a focus on cathode materials for lithium-ion batteries.
What is Taylor Vortex Flow? | Explaining the Mechanism of the Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor
A Taylor Vortex Flow is a unique fluid motion generated in a small gap between two concentric cylinders, a rotating inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder. While the rotation of the inner cylinder is slow, the fluid motion between the cylinders is linear. This linear state is known as Laminar or Couette Flow.
As the rotational speed of the inner cylinder increases and exceeds a critical value, the flow transitions from stable to unstable, and pairs counter-rotating toroidal vortices, also known as cellular rolls, are observed in the reaction solution (Couette, M. 1890; Tran, et al. 2016). This flow pattern is known as Taylor Vortex Flow.
Eddy currents within these counter-rotating vortices create vigorous homogenous micro-mixing zones with enhanced mixing force and mass transfer rates. These enhanced properties have been found to produce particles that are uniform in size and shape, high purity, high density, and high yields by various researchers around the world.
For instance, when our Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor is used to manufacture cathode materials for lithium-ion battery, the reaction cycle time is 8 times faster than a similarly sized batch tank reactor due to its continuous flow design and homogenous micro-mixing zones.
The Taylor Vortex Flow and its enhanced reaction conditions are only observed at certain rotational speeds. Once the rotational speed reaches a secondary critical value, the flow pattern changes to a turbulent flow, known as the wavy vortex flow (Taylor, G. I. 1923). As the toroidal vortices are no longer observed, the wavy vortex flow no longer exhibits enhanced reaction conditions.
LPR Global’s reactors are the first to successfully utilize the Taylor Vortex Flow for commercial chemical reactors for faster, more reliable, higher quality, and higher yield manufacturing of advanced chemical materials.
How Does the Reactor Work? | Structure of the Taylor Vortex Continuous Flow Reactor
Our Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor is a continuous flow reactor type that eliminates the need to interrupt reaction cycles. The basic structure of the reactor is composed of two concentric cylinders, a solid, rotating inner cylinder and a stationary outer cylinder. Gas, liquid, or solid reactants with a buffer are continuously fed into the gap between the two cylinders via feeding ports. As such, our Taylor Vortex Flow Reactors allow for gas-to-liquid, liquid-to-liquid, or solid-to-liquid chemical reactions.
A reaction outlet and a drain are located on the other side of the reaction vessel to collect the reaction products and waste, respectively. During the chemical reaction, a motor rotates the inner cylinder at speeds from 250 rpm to a maximum of 3000 rpm, depending on the specific chemical reaction.
The static outer cylinder is further layered by an insulating reactor jacket, which helps regulate the temperature of the reactor vessel. The temperature of the space in between the outer cylinder and the insulating jacket is regulating by a circulating heater or chiller. In some cases, the reactor will be regulated at a constant temperature. In other cases, such as in crystallization reactions, the jacket will create a temperature gradient along the reactor vessel.
- Reactant Feeding Port (Multiple ports for reactants in gas, liquid or solid phases)
- Temperature Control Outlet
- Temperature Control Inlet
- Drain
- Reaction Product Outlet (Slurry)
- Rotating Inner Cylinder; Agitation Bar
- Reaction Area
- Temperature Control Area
Mini-V | Advanced Lab Research, Pharma and Quantum Dot
Working Volume: 20ml
Maximum Agitation Speed: 1500rpm up to 5000rpm with customization
Permissible Operation Temperature: Generally up to 90°C but up to 600°C with customization
Material: SUS316, Teflon Coating, Hastelloy-C, Inconel, etc.
Dimension (L/W/H): 274mm x 525mm x 617mm
Weight: 40kg
Suitable for: Pharmaceutical research, Quantum dot, High value materials research and development, Laboratory use
LAB II-V and LAB II-H | Process Development and Optimization
Working Volume: 100ml – 200ml
Maximum Agitation Speed: 1500rpm up to 5000rpm with customization
Permissible Operation Temperature: Generally up to 90°C but up to 600°C with customization
Material: SUS316, Teflon Coating, Hastelloy-C, Inconel, etc
Dimension (L/W/H): LAB II-V 500mm x 500mm x 1178mm | LB II-H 1102mm x 450mm x 574mm
Weight: 85kg – 120kg
Suitable for: Universally used for Research & Development Projects for new processes, or new products, and Optimization of existing manufacturing process
TERA | pH Control, Secondary Battery
Working Volume: 1L
Maximum Agitation Speed: 1500rpm up to 3000rpm with customization
Permissible Operation Temperature: Generally up to 90°C but up to 600°C with customization
Material: SUS316, Teflon Coating, Hastelloy-C, Inconel, etc
Dimension (L/W/H): 1470mm x 700mm x 1150-1157mm
Weight: 450kg – 650kg
Suitable for: Secondary battery development projects, smallest model with pH control function for chemical reactions with critical pH requirements
PETA | Pilot-Scale Production
Working Volume: 5L / 10L / 50L
Maximum Agitation Speed: 1200rpm to 1500rpm depending on the working volume
Permissible Operation Temperature: Up to 90°C
Material: SUS316, Teflon Coating, Hastelloy-C, Inconel, etc
Dimension (L/W/H): 1760mm x 500mm x 851mm / 2330mm x 700mm x 1200mm / 3400mm x 1300mm x 1600mm
Weight: 600kg / 1200kg / 3000kg
Suitable for: Pilot scale production, Small quantity batch productions, large variety production requirements
EXA | Mass Production Scale
Working Volume: 100L / 500L / 1000L
Maximum Agitation Speed: 350rpm to 250 rpm depending on the working volume
Permissible Operation Temperature: Up to 90°C
Material: SUS316, Teflon Coating, Hastelloy-C, Inconel, etc
Dimension (L/W/H): 5800x2300x1850 / 6500x2500x2000 / 8500x3000x2300
Weight: 5,000kg / 15,000kg / 25,000kg
Suitable for: Mass Production of Chemical Manufacturing, Scale Up of successful laboratory R&D projects
Applications in Advanced Chemical Materials Manufacturing
Pharmaceutical
- Drug Production
- Protein Synthesis
- Enzyme Synthesis
- Sulfamerazine Crystallization
- Enantiomer Separation
Food Additives
- Protein Additives
- Amino Acid Production
- Functional Food Materials
Battery
- NCM, NCA
- LLZO (For Lithium Batteries)
- (MnCo)(OH)2
Fine Chemical Industry
- Dye Manufacturing
- Surfactant Production – Detergents, Emulsifiers
Electronics and Semiconductor Industry
- Secondary Battery
- Semiconductor
- Display Units and Components
- Zirconia Bead Emulsion Polymerization
- Quantum Dot Core Shell Processing
- Metal Nano Particle Capping
- OLED Light Emitting Material Recrystallization
High Value Chemical Recovery
- For Recovery and Recycling of High Priced Materials
- Water Treatment (by product)
- Graphene Oxide Exfoliation
- Graphene Exfoliation
- Carbon Nano Composite Reduction
- Graphene/CU Nano-Particle (Nanocomposite)
Petrochemical Industry
- Dimethyl Terephthalate Melt Crystallization (Isometric Separation with 95% Purity)
Advantages of Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor
1. Continuous Flow & High Yield Production
The Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor is equipped with feeding ports for continuous input of reactants and an outlet for reaction products. The continuous flow reaction set-up allows for improved heat transfer, mixing force, reproducibility, and scale-up of chemical reactions.
Moreover, our reactors create homogenous micro-mixing zones such that there are no dead zones. This ensures that all reactant materials are processed uniformly for a yield of ≥ 95% with close to zero loss of materials.
A study conducted at Korea Research Institute of Chemical Technology (KRICT) compared a Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor, vibration mill, and homogenizer for a zirconia bead emulsion polymerization. The results demonstrated that the Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor produced the highest yield, most uniformly sized and spherically shaped, smallest, and densest particles. More data can be found in our Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor brochure.
2. Combined Benefits of Batch Reactor and Plug Flow Reactor
The Taylor Vortex Continuous Flow Reactor provides the advantages of both tank-type reactors and plug flow reactors (PFRs), without the limitations of either type of reactor. Similar to tubular PFRs, the Taylor Flow Reactor produces remarkably high purity and uniform products with high repeatability. Both the homogenous micro-mixing zones and the high shear applied by the Taylor Vortex Flow makes this reactor ideal for manufacturing nano materials, as well. The continuous flow set-up also makes our Taylor Flow Reactor ideal for large-scale production for commercial products, similar to a tank-type reactor. Moreover, engineers and lab technicians can operate our reactors easily with minimal training.
Tubular Plug Flow Reactor
- High purity particle production
- High repeatability
- Suitable for nano materials manufacturing
Tank Reactor
- Easy to operate, monitor, and control
- Mixer function
- Suitable for large-scale production
3. High Purity Materials Manufacturing
The Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor consistently produces higher purity particles than any other type of reactor on the market.
Compared to a batch tank reactor, which achieves a 51.5% purity with a single crystallization reaction and requires several batches to achieve a suitable purity, the Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor achieves a 98.2% purity in its first crystallization reaction. As such, our reactor improves production efficiency and reduces manufacturing costs and reactant waste by significant margins.
Fluid Dynamics of a Batch Tank Reactor
Fluid Dynamics of a Taylor Flow Reactor
No Dead Zones
Higher Product Purity with Taylor Flow Reactor
4. Exothermic Reaction Control Feature
The circulating chiller/heater is a core component of the Taylor Continuous Flow Reactor as it affords strict temperature regulation of reaction processes. As seen below, the internal reactor temperature stays constant throughout the reaction, especially when compared to a batch reactor.
Furthermore, LPR Global’s Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor has an explosion control that automatically adjusts the reactor temperature in the instance of rapid heating, making it a safe reactor.
5. High Uniformity in Product Particle Size and Shape
The homogenous micro-mixing environment of the Taylor Flow Reactor consistently and reliably produces dense, uniformly shaped and sized particle grains.
CSTR vs. LCTR: Microscopic Images of Product Particles
CSTR – Continuous Stirred Tank Reactor
LCTR – Continuous Taylor Flow Reactor
6. Reduced Cycle Time & Enhanced Production Efficiency
The vigorous homogenous micro-mixing zones, generated by the Taylor Vortex Flow, enhance mass transfer velocity by up to 4x and mixing force by up to 7x compared to a similarly sized batch reactor. Moreover, there are no “dead zones” within the reaction solution, which ensures that all reactants are being processed while in the reaction vessel.
As a result, our Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor can increase production capacity by a minimum of 2x to a maximum of 100x compared to similarly sized batch reactor or CSTR. For instance, the output of our 5L Taylor Continuous Flow Reactor is roughly equivalent to a 20L CSTR in a given reaction time.
Certifications
- CE certification
- ISO 9001 / ISO 14001
Patent Protected Taylor Vortex Reactor
United States
- Purification apparatus and method using continuous reactors (US 9,937,480B2)
- Apparatus and method for manufacturing particles (US 10,005,062B2)
- All-in-one continuous reactor and crystal separation apparatus for synthesis of positive electrode active materials for lithium secondary battery (US 10,010,851B2)
- Reaction device and reaction method for mixing (US 10,201,797B2)
Europe
- Apparatus for manufacturing particles and method utilizing apparatus for manufacturing particles (EP 3012019B1)
- All in one continuous reactor and crystal separation apparatus for manufacturing positive electrode active material for lithium secondary battery (EP 2735366B1)
- Purification apparatus and method using continuous reactors (EP 2893964B1)
Japan
- All-in-one type continuous reactor and crystal separation apparatus for synthesis of positive electrode active material for lithium secondary battery (JP 5714708)
- Reaction device and respective manufacturing method for mixing (JP 6257636)
- Refining device and method for continuous reactor (JP 6352919)
- Manufacturing device and method for quantum dots (JP 6568265)
South Korea
- Reaction device and manufacturing method for mixing (10-1092337)
- Polarizing film to waste recovery of potassium iodide (10-2241620)
- Special cylinder for reactor (10-1239163)
- Gas-liquid reactor and reaction method for lithium secondary cathode materials (10-1361118)
- High-pressure reaction apparatus (10-1364691)
- Tryptophan purification devices and methods (10-1372811)
- Solid-liquid mixed reaction apparatus (10-1399057)
- An apparatus and method for synthesis of particles (10-1464345)
- An apparatus and method for synthesis of core-shell particles (10-1424610)
- Ultra-high purity purification device including a continuous reactor (10-1427324)
- Surface treatment method using Taylor-Couette Flow Reactor (10-1727939)
- Methods and devices for manufacturing non-oxidizing graphene using electrochemical pretreatment and shear flow exfoliation (10-1785374)
- Graphene metal nanoparticle complex (10-1866190)
- Manufacturing system and method using Couette-Taylor reactor for graphene oxide synthesis (10-1573384)
- Eco-friendly graphene oxide synthesis system using Taylor-Couette reactor (10-1573358)
Certificates
Business Case: Taylor-Couette Reactor for Production of Graphene Oxide and Graphene Materials
Taylor Vortex Reactor for Graphene and Graphene Oxide Business Case
A large-scale 2D graphene producer based in the Midwest US chose our 10L Taylor Vortex Reactor to maintain their market advantage and innovative leadership in global graphene production. The client produces single- and few-layer graphene and graphene oxide for applications in electric vehicle (EV) lithium-ion battery, nano-intermediates-thermoplastics, conductive films, energy storage, and more.
Already holding hundreds of patents in graphene production technology, the client invested in our continuous flow reactor to further enhance the quality and capacity of their graphene R&D laboratories.
Graphene: Applications and Conventional Manufacturing Processes
Graphene is a 2D carbon material with a hexagonal molecular structure. It is one of the strongest and thinnest materials in the world, and it won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physics for its extraordinary properties. Graphene’s excellent electric and thermal conductivity makes it the basis of many next-generation solutions for energy storage, electric vehicles (EVs), solar cells, and more.
While well-known methods of graphene production exist, including Hummer’s method, sonication exfoliation, and homogenization exfoliation, graphene has traditionally been expensive and difficult to produce. Each of the above methods have significant limitations, such as environmental concerns, low yields, complex multi-step processes, and the production of small, uneven flakes. These limitations prevent industrial-scale production of graphene, which should be high quality, low cost, high yield, and environmentally friendly.
Taylor Vortex Reactor: New Method for Graphene Oxide Synthesis
Recently, the literature on graphene oxide synthesis via the Taylor Vortex Reactor has been growing. Also referred to as Taylor-Couette Flow Reactor, Couette-Taylor Flow Reactor, Stress Shearing Reactor, the reactor’s production of purer, more uniform, more efficient, and higher yields of graphene oxide and graphene flakes has been replicated in several studies across the world.
Below, we summarize findings from several peer-reviewed studies that highlight the advantages of using a Continuous Vortex Flow Reactor for graphene oxide synthesis.
In short, the advantages for our graphene-producing clients include:
- Shortened reaction time with continuous synthesis
- High yield production rates
- High quality products with low defect rates
- Structurally uniform products with larger flake sizes
- Easy operation of reactor that gives control over product geometry
- Reduced water and acid waste for green synthesis
Advantages of Taylor Flow Reactor for Graphene Oxide Synthesis
1. Shortened Reaction Time with Continuous Synthesis
In 2019, the Taylor-Couette Flow Reactor “revolutionized the synthesis of graphite oxide” by shortening the time of oxidation from 4 hours with the Hummer’s method to 30 minutes (AlAmer et al., 2019). Despite the drastically shortened reaction time, the resulting graphite oxide sheets were uniformly structured with low defect rates and high yields.
Park et al. (2017) also compared the Hummer’s method and the Couette-Taylor Reactor for graphene oxide synthesis. They found that a 60-minute oxidation reaction in the Couette-Taylor Reactor resulted in a 98% yield of uniform, large-area flakes of few-layer graphene oxide. In contrast, the Hummer’s method produced a 34% yield within the same reaction time.
2. High Yield, High Quality, Uniform Graphene and Graphene Oxide
Few-layer graphene via non-oxidative exfoliation was also produced by Tran et al. (2016) with LPR Global’s Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor. The researchers concluded that our reactor demonstrates high potential to produce high quality graphene on an industrial scale. After measuring the AFM height of more than 250 flakes, the study found that 90% of the flakes were composed of fewer than 5 layers. Raman spectroscopy also indicated low defect rates, with a Raman D/G band intensity ratio (ID/IG) of 0.14. An XPS also showed no evidence of oxidation, which suggests that the Taylor Vortex Reactor produced high quality graphene flakes.
Moreover, Park et al. (2017) also found that the lateral size of the graphene oxide sheets was easily manipulated by simply adjusting the rotational speed of the Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor and the reaction time. This finding is a significant improvement from sonication and homogenization methods, both of which tear graphene flakes into small, uneven pieces.
Graphite oxide synthesis via the Taylor-Couette Reactor was also found to produce assessed uniformly structured graphite oxide sheets with low defect rates and high yields by AlAmer et al. (2019). Due to the wall shear exfoliation induced by the rotating inner cylinder, the number of graphite layers decreased from ~85 layers (natural graphite) to ~8 layers. Raman spectroscopy was also used to confirm high homogeneity in the geometry of the graphite oxide produced by the vortex flow regime.
Expandable Graphite and Few-Layer Graphene for Graphene FIber
In a separate study, AlAmer et al. (2020) compared the Taylor-Couette Reactor to conventional batch processes for the exfoliation of natural graphite. Graphite exfoliation produces expandable graphite and few-layer graphene, which can be spun into ultralight graphene fiber and have high commercial applicability. The high shear rates achieved during the vortex flow regime resulted in structurally homogenous few-layer graphene sheets with large lateral dimensions of over 10 µm. This was an important finding, as flake size is a significant determinant of macroscopic fiber properties, in that larger flake sizes led to stronger fibers.
Notably, only 1-3 hours of shearing time were required to achieve expandable graphite and few-layer graphene with almost no defects. The resulting graphene fiber (bulk density 0.35g/cm3) displayed a mechanical strength of 0.5 GPa without any modification or heat treatment. The figure below shows that graphene fibers spun with the Taylor-Couette Reactor’s expandable graphite display significantly better mechanical properties than fibers using commercially available expandable graphite.
3. Green Synthesis with Reduced Acid and Water Waste
Unlike the Hummer’s method, the Taylor Vortex Flow Reactor successfully produced high yields of graphene oxide at low viscosities of under 200 cP (Park et al., 2017). The low-viscosity mixture allowed for an initial separation H2SO4 from the graphene oxide slurry with a simple filtration system. Subsequently, the purification of the graphene oxide product used 75% less water compared to the Hummers’ method. The finding of this study overcomes one of the greatest limitations of the Hummer’s method: its inability to produce high yields of graphene oxide from low-viscosity mixtures, which then requires great amounts of water for acid purification.
Moreover, Park et al. (2017) found that graphene oxide synthesis with once- and twice-recycled filtered H2SO4 for produced comparable quality and yield. Recovery rates for graphene oxide produced with fresh, once-recycled, and twice-recycled H2SO4 were approximately 98.5%, 97.1%, and 97.9%, respectively.
Customizable Reactor for Pilot-Scale Production
The 10L Taylor Vortex Reactor used by this client is ideal for pilot-scale production. The standard model has a maximum agitation speed of 1500 RPM and maximum reaction temperature of 90°C. Having said that, this Continuous Flow Reactor can also be customized for higher agitation speeds and reaction temperatures.
The user-friendly PLC interface also allows our client to save their reaction data, thereby facilitating their reaction optimization process.
For questions on how LPR Global’s Taylor Flow Reactor can enhance your advanced materials manufacturing, please reach out to [email protected].
References
AlAmer, M., Lim, A. R., & Joo, Y. L. (2018). Continuous synthesis of structurally uniform graphene oxide materials in a model Taylor–Couette flow reactor. Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research, 58(3), 1167-1176.
AlAmer, M., Zamani, S., Fok, K., Satish, A., Lim, A. R., & Joo, Y. L. (2020). Facile Production of Graphenic Microsheets and Their Assembly via Water-Based, Surfactant-Aided Mechanical Deformations. ACS applied materials & interfaces, 12(7), 8944-8951.
Park, W. K., Yoon, Y., Kim, S., Choi, S. Y., Yoo, S., Do, Y., Jung, S., Yoon, D. H., Park, H. & Yang, W. S. (2017). Toward green synthesis of graphene oxide using recycled sulfuric acid via couette–taylor flow. ACS omega, 2(1), 186-192.
Park, W. K., Yoon, Y., Song, Y. H., Choi, S. Y., Kim, S., Do, Y., Lee, J., Park, H., Yoon, D. H., & Yang, W. S. (2017). High-efficiency exfoliation of large-area mono-layer graphene oxide with controlled dimension. Scientific reports, 7(1), 1-9.
Tran, T. S., Park, S. J., Yoo, S. S., Lee, T. R., & Kim, T. (2016). High shear-induced exfoliation of graphite into high quality graphene by Taylor–Couette flow. RSC advances, 6(15), 12003-12008.